No Sex Please, We're Fittish: Women Reach Orgasm at the Gym

For some women, gym exercise is a good all-rounder - for toning, fitness and orgasms

Many women experience sexual pleasure when doing exercise and some have even had orgasms at the gym, a new report has claimed.

According to research by LiveScience, 124 women admitted to climaxing without partners, toys, or any direct sexual stimulation while they were at the gym. A further 246 said they experienced exercise-induced sexual pleasure.

The study, which surveyed hundreds of women aged from 18 to 63, found that a number of them reported experiencing orgasms when lifting weights or during a spinning session, even if they were not thinking about sex.

Experts at of the Centre for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University discovered that nearly half those surveyed experienced orgasm on more than 10 occasions.

Researcher and co-director Debby Herbenick said: "The most common exercises associated with exercise-induced orgasm were abdominal exercises, climbing poles or ropes, biking/spinning and weight lifting.

"These data are interesting because they suggest that orgasm is not necessarily a sexual event, and they may also teach us more about the bodily processes underlying women's experiences of orgasm."

Herbenick said that the new research had enabled them to fill in the gaps in the work of sexual research pioneer Alfred Kinsey in the 1950s.

She said: "Despite attention in the popular media, little is known scientifically about exercise-induced orgasms."

The study is published in the journal Sexual and Relationship Therapy.